Former Real Madrid star, Cristiano Ronaldo has beat Lionel Messi and Neymar to top the Instagram Sports Rich List for the year 2018.

The Portuguese, who recently moved from Real Madrid to Juventus, saw off his two biggest rivals in the game in a report based on how much a sponsored Instagram post could cost brands.

Daily Mail, UK, reports that Ronaldo amassed a staggering 133 million followers on his account and is a frequent poster as he shares images of his lavish lifestyle and hugely successful footballing career.

HopperHQ.com, an Instagram scheduling tool, analysed data to reveal a list of the highest paid celebrities and influencers on the social media platform.

Factors such as average engagement, how often they post and number of followers were considered.

And that has translated well into how much he can charge companies when it comes to using his account for promotional purposes.

The report shows brands would have to fork out $750,000 (£570,000) per post.

Neymar, Messi, David Beckham and Gareth Bale join Cristiano in the top five of the sporting list.

Posts on Neymar and Messi’s accounts would be worth $600,000 (£457,000) and $500,000 (£381,000) respectively.

Beckham, meanwhile, could charge $300,000 (£228,000) while a sponsored post on Bale’s profile would be a costly $185,000 (£141,000).

Ronaldo’s success extends beyond the sporting world though because he has also made it into the overall top five.

The 33-year-old finished third in the global ranking, edging world famous stars and renowned Instagram posters Kim Kardashian and Beyonce into third and fourth respectively.

Television personality and model Kylie Jenner boasts top spot with $1,000,000 (£762,000) per post while singer Selena Gomez takes the silver medal on $800,000 (£610,000).